South Island Day 8: And So Begins The Adrenalin

Yeah so it was raining in Wanaka again and the skydive was cancelled and the thought of another day wandering round a maze didn't really appeal to us so we headed down to Queenstown to have a little chat with them about stuffs and things to do in the area, namely where we could get this throwing ourselves out of an aircraft at 15000ft thing out of our system. The weather was heaps better here too and we had a choice; jump over Queenstown or get a $50 discount and drive ourselves out to Glenorchy.

Well it'd be rude to refuse a discount wouldn't it. We booked and paid and had a couple of hours to kill so we parked up at our campsite so Nat and Shane could have a minor panic and fill the long drops before they filled their pants.

Glenorchy was totally the right decision, if we thought Wanaka was pretty then the drive to Glenorchy was stunning.

The Road To Glenorchy

All Ready To Go. Readyish Anyway.

Everyone at NZ Skydive is really lovely an all, when I did my last skydive they all seemed a bit stressed, not comforting when you were about to entrust your life to them. This time I was going to be strapped to a Canadian bloke called Dave, Nat got a huge guy known as Bigfoot and Shane was harnessed to a tiny Welshman called Taff.
The flight up was more nerve wracking than I remember it being last time, I don't remember being scared at all the first time I did it once we were up in the air then I figured my brain must have blocked it out. I looked over at Shane, the bottom half of his face was all grins and teeth and the top half was deathly white. Him and Nat are both scared of heights and 15000ft could definately be considered high.

And Why Were We Jumping Out Of This Thing Again?

"It takes a certain kind of person to step out of an aircraft at 15000ft into thin air. It takes courage."

Fortunately we had to do nothing of the sort, this is what I love about skydiving, the man on your back takes care of everything so even if you do lose your bottle at the last minute it doesn't matter, he's going over the edge and you're going with him. And it was just as awesome as last time, that initial feeling when you first go over the edge is unsurpassed by anything.

Scuse My Drool

Nat's First Skydive

Shane And The Wee Welshman

Safely Back On The Ground

By the time I landed I had the biggest grin on my face as well as a large trail of drool. Nice. Nat and Shane both landed, both now totally addicted to it.

Huge smiles and slightly more control over their saliva glands than me.

written by

Koala Bear on February 10, 2009 from Glenorchy, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip

tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and SouthIsland

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